Hunger over pedigree: why ImagineArt hires for potential

Three years ago, ImagineArt was three people. Today we're a team of 50+, our revenue has grown 100×, and our product is used by millions of creators and more than 1,000 organizations.

People often ask what changed. A lot did. But one decision doesn't get talked about enough: we gave young talent a chance.

The bet

When we opened our first roles, we had a choice. We could chase the CVs with the biggest logos on them, or we could trust people who were early in their careers but had something you can't teach.

We chose the second.

We chose hunger over pedigree. Curiosity over credentials. Looking back now, it's one of the best decisions we've ever made.

That's our co-founder and CTO, Abdullah Rafique. He has watched the bet play out every day since: a team that shows up with discipline, owns the product like it's their own, debates ideas at midnight, and then ships, breaks things, fixes them and ships again. In one week alone, that team shipped five new integrations, with Framer, Shopify, Glama AI, Smithery and Make.

Why potential beats perfect

Our hiring playbook says it plainly: we will never find the perfect candidate, so we don't pretend to look for one. We filter for what the role genuinely needs, and then we hire for potential.

In practice that means we care much less about where you studied or how many years you've done something, and much more about:

• Ownership. Do you take a problem and run with it, or wait to be told?
• Speed of learning. How quickly do you get good at something you've never done?
• Taste. Can you look at ten options and know which one is right?
• Proof. Have you actually built, shipped or grown something?

What proof looks like in 2026

AI has made it easy for anyone to produce a polished résumé, cover letter and portfolio. So a good-looking CV isn't a differentiator anymore; everyone should have one by default.

What still stands out is evidence that you can do things. If we were applying today, here's what we'd spend our time on:

• Build a small app or product with AI tools, and get real people to use it
• Grow a user base around it and come with actual numbers
• Automate something annoying in your own life
• Contribute to an open-source project
• Post what you're learning, in public

And learn to really use AI, rather than listing another course.

It works both ways

Betting on early-career people only works if they get real responsibility. So you won't spend your first year watching. Saad Ahmed joined us in 2023 to work on mobile. A year later he was handed ImagineArt Web, took it through three major pivots, and today he's our Group Product Manager.

That's the deal: we bet on you early, and you get the kind of ownership most people wait a decade for.

If that sounds like you, take a look at our open roles.

Frequently asked questions

Does ImagineArt hire fresh graduates?

Yes. Many of ImagineArt's engineers, product managers and creators joined within a year or two of graduating. The company hires for potential and looks for proof that you can build things.

How can a student stand out when applying to an AI startup?

Build something real and get people to use it, automate something in your own life, contribute to open source, post what you're learning, and show genuine AI fluency. A polished CV alone is no longer a differentiator.

What does 'hunger over pedigree' mean at ImagineArt?

It means ImagineArt values drive, curiosity and evidence of ownership over university brand or years of experience. Early-career people get real responsibility quickly.